Mother's Gum Disease Linked To Stillborn Death

By Peter Merai, DDS, FAGD

For years, dental professionals have understood and addressed the connection between preterm labor and periodontal disease in pregnant women, but a study published in the February 2010 issue of Obstetrics and

Gynecology has caused dentists to question how the oral health of pregnant patients affects the systemic health of the fetus.

The study, which was conducted by the Department of Periodontics at Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine, reports the first case to connect the oral bacteria associated with a mother's periodontal disease to the death of her fetus.

Head researcher Yiping W. Han, PhD, and her team reviewed the case of a 35-year-old woman who delivered a full-term but stillborn baby at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif. The mother reported that she experienced excessive gum bleeding during her pregnancy, a common occurrence in approximately 75% of pregnant women.

Dr. Han's tests suggest that the excessive bleeding allowed Fusobacterium nucleatum (F. nucleatum), a bacteria associated with periodontal disease, to move from the mother's mouth into her blood stream, and eventually into the placenta.

Postmortem microbial studies of the stillborn baby support these findings as the presence of F. nucleatum was found in the baby's lungs and stomach and the final report stated that the death was due to a septic infection and inflammation caused by bacteria.

To gain additional support for her findings, Dr. Han had the mother visit a periodontist, who gathered plaque samples from the mother's teeth. Dr. Han then used DNA technology to compare the bacteria in the mother's mouth to that found in the baby's stomach and lungs. The bacteria matched. “The testing strongly suggested the bacteria were delivered through the blood,” Han said.

While this research raises new concerns regarding the oral health of mothers and the viability of their pregnancy, more studies will need to be conducted to confirm the connection.

In the meantime, dentists should encourage women who are pregnant or wish to become pregnant to maintain good oral health care with regular dental visits and to report any excessive gum bleeding.

Article obtained from the Academy of General Dentistry